Stephanie Olson

Grind fresh coffee. Heat up oatmeal on stove. Eat while surfing the internet. Read the news. Save a recipe and DIY candle instructions. Order a new pair of shoes. Go to work. Stop at the grocery store. Reheat dinner in the oven. Eat. Watch a movie.

This is fairly representative of my typical day, but it is not the details that are important, it’s how I did those things. I have electricity, running water, a predictable job, the internet, the sense of self worth, access to markets. We are citizens of the twenty first century, so life is pretty easy, despite minor complications.

Yet what if I told you there existed places in the world where the twenty first century looked a lot like the 15th century? Where life for a woman is measured in hectares cultivated, gallons of water drawn, and number of children reared? Where all of a woman’s efforts go to the hard reality of feeding, watering, clothing, and washing a family with no modern amenities, and none are left to discover what it is to be her, how do complete tasks more effectively, or how she relates to other women in her community. This is a place where girls drop out of school, enter into prostitution, continuing the cycle. This is not by choice, this is due to her only worth being an obligation to her family. Without education, and without confidence, the average woman in this situation has no decision making power, no power to voice an opinion, no power to change her situation or that of the future of her children’s.

We can often feel powerless in this situation. We know that poverty exists, that women are marginalized, that life in Africa is hard. But what can we do about it? We must also go to work, care for our families and go about our lives. You might feel that from the other side of the world there is nothing that you can do to make a difference, and having no connection to this obscure community, no drive to do it.

I have presented to you a generality that can be hard to relate to. But what if I told you that you have the power to improve the lives of women of a specific community, from where you are sitting? Women who, despite their situation, are a lot like you. Women who, when asked what they wanted in their community, responded that they wanted to secure a better future for their children. They wanted to learn a new skill, and to run a business. They want a place that fosters learning and opportunity. And when you contribute to women, you contribute to the whole community. You contribute to the development of a new society made up of intelligent men and women who recognize their self worth and the importance of fostering and open, caring, and productive environment.

In the densely forested village of Masaka, Uganda, bricks are being laid to create a place that responds to the desires of their community. The Glow Effect Centre for Women & Girls is a direct action to the reaction of the community members, whom when asked for the first time in their lives what mattered to them, get to see it become reality. The Centre is designed as a sustainable and replicable model that works to empower, rather than enable, the women of this and surrounding communities. Giving them the tools for success, with a focus on developing the value of self worth and purpose, we are watching women transform their community to create a place where women and their children feel unstoppable.

There is a new buzz in the air in Masaka, and that buzz comes from people like you. People who, from communities all over the world, are creating a connection with the community of Masaka. You don’t have to travel to Uganda to fulfill the desire to make a difference. Your donation goes directly to the community so you don’t have to. Your donation provides the resources needed to complete the Centre for Women & Girls, to fund education and training tools and to create a place where women feel safe and can explore what it means to be empowered for the first time- a place where their children can grow up with the value of self worth and confidence to become positive leaders in their community, their country, and the world. This creates not only improvements in their own life, but that of their husbands, their sons and daughters, and fellow community members. This is the Glow Effect.

If you would like to make an impact by donating to The Glow Effect Centrefor Women & Girls, please click the donate button or feel free to inquire directly as to how you can help. Registered as a 501(c)3, take advantage of the benefits of your donation and watch as a community transforms.

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